"On Wednesday, columnist Nicholas Kristof related how a black California ex-convict, Kevin Cooper, was sentenced to death for murdering a white family -- but five judges wrote opinions saying Cooper is innocent, evidently framed by police who planted evidence. Reformers are making a last-ditch appeal to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to halt his execution.
Texas authorities recently concluded that one convict was wrongly executed in 2000. Claude Howard Jones evidently was among three men involved in a liquor store robbery -- but new DNA tests of a hair sample proved that he wasn't the shooter who killed a clerk. A fellow robber had lied about Jones to save himself.
However, even when guilt is abundantly clear, executions are repulsive. They degrade society. Many murderers are disgusting thugs who don't deserve to live -- but that's not the point. Intelligent state governments shouldn't sink to their level..."
EDITORIAL: THE CHARLOTTE GAZETTE;
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"When George W. Bush was governor of Texas in the 1990s, he set an all-time record for executing prisoners, signing more than 150 death warrants. In private, he mocked one woman about to be killed," the Charleton Gazette editorial published under the heading "Pro-death: Medieval relic," on December 12, 2010 begins.
"But the pro-death mentality is fading in America," the editorial continues.
"More and more states and leaders have concluded that executions are a medieval relic unfit for humane, modern, enlightened societies. Killing prisoners is a hallmark of dictatorships. Nearly all modern democracies, except America, have abolished the cruel practice.
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens once supported executions, but he wrote last month in the New York Review of Books that he has reversed himself. Now he sees the death penalty as barbaric, unfairly hitting blacks and the poor.
In 1994, then-Justice Harry Blackmun declared that executions are "a system that we know must wrongly kill some defendants." In 1990, then-Justice Thurgood Marshall said hope that the death penalty could be administered impartially "has become a cruel and empty mockery."
Columnist Bob Herbert wrote recently: "The death penalty in the United States has never been anything but an abomination -- a grotesque, uncivilized, overwhelmingly racist affront to the very idea of justice."
Court systems pay less attention when a black is murdered, but often demand death when a white is killed, he wrote. Penniless defendants, unable to hire defense attorneys, often are assigned "alcoholic, drug-addicted and incompetent lawyers" who fail to protect them, Herbert said.
On Wednesday, columnist Nicholas Kristof related how a black California ex-convict, Kevin Cooper, was sentenced to death for murdering a white family -- but five judges wrote opinions saying Cooper is innocent, evidently framed by police who planted evidence. Reformers are making a last-ditch appeal to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to halt his execution.
Texas authorities recently concluded that one convict was wrongly executed in 2000. Claude Howard Jones evidently was among three men involved in a liquor store robbery -- but new DNA tests of a hair sample proved that he wasn't the shooter who killed a clerk. A fellow robber had lied about Jones to save himself.
However, even when guilt is abundantly clear, executions are repulsive. They degrade society. Many murderers are disgusting thugs who don't deserve to live -- but that's not the point. Intelligent state governments shouldn't sink to their level.
Almost a half-century ago, West Virginia wisely joined humane states that stopped putting people to death. It made the Mountain State a better place. Today, the state's low murder rate demonstrates that fear of execution isn't needed to deter crime.
We hope that all states -- even Texas -- eventually follow West Virginia's standard of decency.
When George W. Bush was governor of Texas in the 1990s, he set an all-time record for executing prisoners, signing more than 150 death warrants. In private, he mocked one woman about to be killed.
But the pro-death mentality is fading in America. More and more states and leaders have concluded that executions are a medieval relic unfit for humane, modern, enlightened societies. Killing prisoners is a hallmark of dictatorships. Nearly all modern democracies, except America, have abolished the cruel practice.
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens once supported executions, but he wrote last month in the New York Review of Books that he has reversed himself. Now he sees the death penalty as barbaric, unfairly hitting blacks and the poor.
In 1994, then-Justice Harry Blackmun declared that executions are "a system that we know must wrongly kill some defendants." In 1990, then-Justice Thurgood Marshall said hope that the death penalty could be administered impartially "has become a cruel and empty mockery."
Columnist Bob Herbert wrote recently: "The death penalty in the United States has never been anything but an abomination -- a grotesque, uncivilized, overwhelmingly racist affront to the very idea of justice."
Court systems pay less attention when a black is murdered, but often demand death when a white is killed, he wrote. Penniless defendants, unable to hire defense attorneys, often are assigned "alcoholic, drug-addicted and incompetent lawyers" who fail to protect them, Herbert said.
On Wednesday, columnist Nicholas Kristof related how a black California ex-convict, Kevin Cooper, was sentenced to death for murdering a white family -- but five judges wrote opinions saying Cooper is innocent, evidently framed by police who planted evidence. Reformers are making a last-ditch appeal to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to halt his execution.
Texas authorities recently concluded that one convict was wrongly executed in 2000. Claude Howard Jones evidently was among three men involved in a liquor store robbery -- but new DNA tests of a hair sample proved that he wasn't the shooter who killed a clerk. A fellow robber had lied about Jones to save himself.
However, even when guilt is abundantly clear, executions are repulsive. They degrade society. Many murderers are disgusting thugs who don't deserve to live -- but that's not the point. Intelligent state governments shouldn't sink to their level.
Almost a half-century ago, West Virginia wisely joined humane states that stopped putting people to death. It made the Mountain State a better place. Today, the state's low murder rate demonstrates that fear of execution isn't needed to deter crime.
We hope that all states -- even Texas -- eventually follow West Virginia's standard of decency."
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The editorial can be found at:
http://wvgazettemail.com/Opinion/201012120638
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.coM;